Posts Tagged ‘california stop’

A “California Stop” occurs when a driver or cyclist slows down for a stop sign, but does not come to a full stop at any particular instant. This certainly is an aspect of traffic culture in San Francisco and it’s one that’s tolerated by the SFPD. For example, motorcycle-riding cops will sometimes lie in wait on Pierce as car after car commits a California Stop coming down Alamo Heights on Fulton. Maybe ten people go through without incident but then somebody rolls through at 7 MPH and the driver gets pulled over. Just watch the police themselves cruising around in cars and on bikes to see how fast they go past the red octagon, depending on traffic, visibility, time of day, etc. California Stops aren’t tolerated as much in other places, such as the small towns of Marin County. And, oh yes, this approach is also known as an “Oklahoma Stop” in other parts of the country.

OTOH, an “Idaho Stop” occurs when a cyclist doesn’t slow down at all for a stop sign.

Thusly, near Twin Peaks:

Look for Idaho Stops in the Lower Haight area, where many fixed gear riders maintain the same pace whether cycling past stop signs or not.

Some people in San Francisco want Idaho Stops to be legal in San Francisco.

All right, you drive in California – that’s not just a privilege, it’s your birthright. So that means that you can “California stop,” you know, roll through, slowly, all day long all over San Francisco with impunity.

However, some of you don’t do it right, some of you roll on through at like 7 MPH, which might be OK late at night at well-lit, wide open intersections in giant parking lots, but that’s considered too fast for the Alamo Square area.

So, the popo just sit and wait out of view on Pierce. But they don’t hand out tickets for those people who roll through the stop sign with caution, oh no. They wait for a good customer, somebody who maintains a good clip while crossing over the crosswalk.

Click to expand

Now, if you’re on a bike, then you allowed a much higher speed, of course. But you people in cars might consider showing a little respect for da law.

‘Cause if the SFPD gives you a ticket for rolling through a stop, you not only rolled through a stop, you did it faster than anybody else…

An agitated SFPD police officer invited the driver of this BMW to get out on the freeway if he was in such a hurry. It seems there’s a crackdown on speedy drivers using the park as a shortcut to get across town.